Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.

7176

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Enterprise: A One-Shot Expansion

« on: December 04, 2011, 05:40:26 pm »

Ah, much obliged! Thanks for reading and I look forward to your feedback.

EDIT: I've removed the Reaction type from Inventor because I don't think it actually needs to be a Reaction card to do what it does. I've also made small formatting changes to some cards. These are all very minor changes, but I might as well note them.

7177

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Enterprise: A One-Shot Expansion

« on: December 04, 2011, 05:14:24 pm »

Man, I was hoping for a little bit more feedback than this! Specifically, I was hoping rinkworks would weigh in. I guess these cards just don't inspire interest. I've done a little simulated testing with a few of them, so I'll post my experiences here.

I found out that Mercenaries is an amazing Conspirator enabler. I never used its one-shot ability, because I didn't mind discarding my Coppers. Usually in a Conspirator deck, you need some trashing in order to get enough Action card density. Mercenaries cycles quickly enough that you don't need to trash anything. I'll have to try it in another set.

The idea behind Cathedral is that it's a Chapel-after-the-fact. Its non-one-shot ability is meant to be useful, but not worth its 5 Coins price tag. In the set I tried, it might have been worth $5 just for that. The set included Navigator, and the combination is pretty stunning. Play Cathedral, put two bad cards on your deck, then use Navigator to discard them. I like the fact that the card has positive synergy with Navigator and Chancellor, though. Those cards need more love.

Cathedral's one-shot ability is pretty astounding, though. A deck with about three or four Cathedrals beat a double Mountebank deck. I may have to nerf the ability so that it reveals the top 4 cards of your deck, rather than the top 5.

Tax Collector actually seems pretty balanced from my first test. I may have to give myself a pat on the back for successfully designing a card that trashes opponent's cards. As Donald X. has stated, they're tough to pull off. The biggest issue with the card that I've noticed so far is the large amount of analysis paralysis it could cause. When you get hit by it, you have to decide both what to trash and what to gain in its place. That's Forge-level AP right there.

7178

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Enterprise: A One-Shot Expansion

« on: December 02, 2011, 08:41:15 pm »

Re: Conscripts: do you want an "if you do" clause there?

Actually, it originally had that. I took it out because it didn't really seem necessary. I mean, most existing cursing Attack cards can be Throned, and chances are pretty good that Conscripts is going to be played by Barracks anyhow.

Barracks: I'm guessing you meant "reveal cards from your deck"?

Yes! Thanks for catching that.

I like the look of this set! Nothing jumped out at me as wrongly costed at first glance. I really like your ideas. I might have more feedback later if I get the chance to analyze the cards more closely. But they look great!

Thanks! I'm glad you like it. Hopefully I'll get the chance to playtest some of it soon and tweak the cards.

7179

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Enterprise: A One-Shot Expansion

« on: December 02, 2011, 06:16:59 pm »

Tax Collector looks obnoxious. "I trashed your Province out of your hand. You lose."

Sorry if it's not clear, but the victim chooses which card to trash, not the attacker.

EDIT: Sorry, I had accidentally deleted the 'Trash this card' clause from Conscripts. I have added it.

7180

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Enterprise: A One-Shot Expansion

« on: December 02, 2011, 06:10:55 pm »

Apologies, there is one new mechanic that I neglected to explain: that of spending a token. When you spend a token, you return it to the communal pile. You can't use it multiple times.

7181

Variants and Fan Cards / Enterprise: A One-Shot Expansion (Alpha)

« on: December 02, 2011, 06:00:03 pm »

I finally decided to take a crack at designing some Dominion fan cards. This makes me a huge hypocrite, since I generally avoid fan cards like the plague. Anyhow, I got a bit carried away and designed an entire small (150 card) expansion. Unfortunately, I have not yet had the opportunity to playtest any of these, so I apologize in advance. I mostly just want the community's feedback about whether these cards appear overpowered, underpowered, or just plain boring.

The theme of the expansion is one-shot cards, so that's a strike against it right from the get-go. As Donald X. has stated, one-shots are not a good theme. Some people just don't like the fact that they don't get to keep the cards they buy. I've tried to overcome that by using one-shot mechanics in more interesting, less harsh ways. There's only one card in the set that's always a one-shot, and you get it for free when you buy a different card. Some cards can be one-shots (like Mining Village). Many replace themselves with other cards when using their one-shot ability (like Treasure Map). A couple are just unrelated to one-shots. I'm going to avoid commenting on the individual cards in this post, since I don't want to bias perceptions concerning what each card is all about.

Thanks for any feedback you provide!

Missionary
Types: Action – Reaction
Cost: 2
+1 Coin. Reveal the top two cards of your deck. Discard one of them and put the other one into your hand.
----------------------------------------------------------
When another player plays an Attack card, you may reveal this from your hand. If you do, trash down to 3 cards in your hand.

Mill Town
Types: Action
Cost: 3
+1 Card. +2 Actions. Discard a card. You may reveal 2 or more Coppers from your hand. If you do, gain a card costing exactly 1 Coin per Copper card revealed.

Prospector
Types: Action
Cost: 3
+2 Coins.
----------------------------------------------------------
If this is in play at the start of Clean-up, you may reveal a Gold from your hand. If you do, trash this and gain 2 Gold cards, putting them on top of your deck.

Aqueduct
Types: Victory
Cost: 4
Worth 2 VP.
----------------------------------------------------------
When you gain this, reveal the top 5 cards of your deck. Discard all revealed Victory and Curse cards and put the rest back on top in any order.

Fund
Types: Treasure
Cost: 4
Worth 2 Coins. +1 Buy. When you play this, discard your hand.
You may trash this card immediately. If you do, all cards cost 1 Coin less this turn, but not less than 0 Coins.

Mercenaries
Types: Action – Attack
Cost: 4
+2 Cards. +1 Action. Each other player reveals the top two cards of his deck, discarding one that you choose and putting the other back on top.
You may discard a Treasure card from your hand. If you don't, trash this card.

Tinker
Types: Action
Cost: 4
+1 Card. +1 Action. Reveal the top card of your deck and trash it.  You may trash this card. If you do, gain a card other than a Tinker that costs up to 2 Coins more than the revealed card, putting it on top of your deck.

Barracks
Types: Action
Cost: 5
Choose one: +2 Actions and +1 Coin; or reveal cards from your deck until you reveal an Attack card, discard the other cards, then play the Attack card.
----------------------------------------------------------
When you gain this, gain an Conscripts card.

Cathedral
Types: Action
Cost: 5
+3 Cards. +1 Action. Put 2 cards from your hand on top of your deck.
You may spend a Cathedral token. If you do, trash the top 2 cards of your deck.
----------------------------------------------------------
When you gain this, take a Cathedral token.

Inventor
Types: Action
Cost: 5
Choose one: +3 Cards; or +1 Action and set this aside on your Inventor mat.
----------------------------------------------------------
When you gain this, set it aside on your Inventor mat.
At the start of your turn, you may remove this from your mat and put it into your hand.

Monopoly
Types: Action
Cost: 5
+2 Coins. Trash this card. Name a Kingdom card. The player to your left reveals then discards the top 5 cards from his deck. For each copy of the named card revealed, gain a Gold, putting it on top of your deck.
------------------------------------------------------------
When you buy this, trash a Kingdom card from the Supply.

Tax Collector
Types: Action – Attack
Cost: 6
+1 Buy. +2 Coins. Each other player with at least 5 cards in hand trashes a card from his hand costing 2 Coins or more (or reveals a hand with no such cards). He may gain a card costing less than it that is not a Victory card.

Conscripts
Types: Action – Attack
Cost: 0*
+2 Coins. Trash this card. Each other player gains a Curse.
(This is not in the Supply.)

EDIT: Cards revised on 02/16/2012

7182

Dominion Articles / Re: Ill-Gotten Gains

« on: December 01, 2011, 09:12:10 am »

Ill-Gotten Gains is actually a good counter for most cursing attacks. It helps you run out the curse pile very rapidly, and with the Curse pile empty, most traditional Curse-giving cards are weaker than the Ill-Gotten Gains in your deck.

http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20111126-114856-dea72fb8.html

Here's a game where I beat Obi Wan Bonogi as he inexplicably tries to fight Ill-Gotten Gains with Familiar, wasting three buys (Potion, Familiar, Familiar) and still losing the Curse race 4 to 6. He eventually trashes all his Curses, but it's not fast enough to make a comeback.

The big exception I've found is Sea Hag.

http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20111127-191617-70d9116f.html

In this 3-player game, I can't even get to $5 until turn 10 because I'm being bombarded by Sea Hags from two players.

7183

Rules Questions / Re: Reactions are confusing, man

« on: November 21, 2011, 03:44:59 pm »

As for Watchtower, even without the Lose Track Rule, revealing it multiple times to bounce it back and forth between your deck and the trash is no different than revealing a Secret Chamber multiple times consecutively.

For Tunnel, I believe you reveal it as you discard it. So you're not really revealing it from your hand or from the discard pile. I suppose it's just implicit that you can't reveal it multiple times during the same discard, and after the first discard, it's in your discard pile. Compare this to most Reaction cards, which get revealed from your hand and placed back in your hand afterward. Because it's still in your hand, you can reveal it from your hand again.

7184

Rules Questions / Re: Gaining a Tunnel with Ironworks

« on: November 18, 2011, 04:52:47 pm »

So, I guess Moat was technically the first hybrid card, even though we didn't know it.

Well, 'Action - Attack' cards are hybrid cards as well, and the base set had five of them.

7185

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Counting House and Hinterlands

« on: November 16, 2011, 01:45:27 pm »

...although with Scheme you need to play the Counting House first.

Nope. It will work if you play Scheme then Counting House. Now I want to try this!

Let me rephrase. Unlike Mandarin, Scheme forces you to play Counting House in order to carry it to your next turn, which you may not want to do if you have a better terminal Action to play. That's what I meant by 'first'.

7186

Dominion General Discussion / Counting House and Hinterlands

« on: November 15, 2011, 07:46:43 pm »

It seems to me that a lot of the Hinterlands cards have decent synergy with Counting House. Cache and Ill-Gotten Gains are obvious. They gain you Copper. Oasis and Inn work like miniature Warehouses, allowing you to freely discard Copper which you can then put back in your hand. In addition, a well-timed Inn gain may allow you to put a Counting house back into your deck when most of your cards are in your discard pile. Cartographer can potentially move several Copper cards from your deck to your discard pile. Mandarin and Scheme can both allow you to save your Counting House until you're close to the end of your deck, although with Scheme you need to play the Counting House first. Stables both puts Copper into your discard pile and can draw Counting House.

What's your take on these interactions. Are any of them worthwhile?

7187

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Tiny note on duchess

« on: November 11, 2011, 08:19:54 pm »

I really wish Duchess had all players reveal the top card of their deck.

7188

Dominion Articles / Re: Three-sentence overview of each card in Hinterlands

« on: November 10, 2011, 01:58:30 pm »

OK, I'm going to try to explain this using a slightly different tack. Think of Spice Merchant as a Moneylender-after-the-fact.

If I buy Silver and Moneylender on turn 1 and 2, I'm not getting any more buying power on turns 3 and 4 than if I had bought two Silver. Yes, I get +$3, but I had to trash a Copper from my hand to do it, so I end up with just as much buying power as I would if the Moneylender had been a Silver. The benefit I derive over Silver is that I've trashed a Copper, which will help me more in the long run. I don't actually feel that benefit until after my second reshuffle.

Let's say that instead I buy a Silver and a Militia/Swindler/etc. on turns 1 and 2. My buying power on turns 3 and 4 is the same as if I'd bought the Moneylender, but I get a more immediate benefit rather than the long-term benefit of Moneylender. Then, on turn 3 or 4, I buy a Spice Merchant. After my second reshuffle, I have one more Copper in my deck than the Moneylender deck does. However, as soon as I get to Spice Merchant, I can trash a Copper, replacing both the Spice Merchant and the trashed Copper in my hand and giving me another action. I've got a five-card hand again. It's like the Copper was never in my hand at all! It's almost like I had trashed it with a Moneylender on turn 3 or 4. Meanwhile, I can put an additional terminal action in my deck compared to a deck with Moneylender without incurring a greater chance of collision.

Does that argument make any more sense?

EDIT: I guess what it really boils down to is this: If there are sufficiently powerful terminal Action cards out there that I want to play as often as possible, I'd rather have a non-terminal Copper trasher that could draw me those actions than a terminal one that can't.

7189

Dominion Articles / Re: Three-sentence overview of each card in Hinterlands

« on: November 10, 2011, 12:30:04 pm »

Let's say that we run a simulation with three Kingdom cards: Moneylender, Spice Merchant, and Militia. I hypothesize that if you open Moneylender/Silver and I open Militia/Silver, after which you buy X Militias and I buy a Spice Merchant followed by X Militias (giving my deck a total of X + 1 Militias), that I will win over 50% of games.

This isn't a fair comparison, because you don't want X for deck one and X+1 for deck two. You should optimize the number for both - which means FEWER militias for the Spice Merchant bot, I'm sure. But I'm fairly confident Moneylender's gonna win even here, in your cherry-picked example.

I'm not trying to cherry pick. You could replace Militia with many powerful terminal actions. I (perhaps falsely) assumed that you'd want one more Militia in the deck without the Moneylender because Moneylender is also a terminal Action for Militias to conflict with. Let's say instead that you just want the optimal number of Militias for each deck, which may or may not be the same. Is that a better example?

7190

Dominion Articles / Re: Three-sentence overview of each card in Hinterlands

« on: November 10, 2011, 12:20:14 pm »

What I meant was: both of them trash a Copper, but Moneylender gives you a pseudo-Gold for it, and Spice Merchant gives you a pseudo-Laboratory or pseudo-Woodcutter. 

Now, of course, sometimes the Laboratory is better, especially in the late game, but you won't find a $5 card that just says +$3 any time soon.  So on Turns 3-5, you'd probably want the +$3 (which, as you correctly pointed out, is technically a +$2) over +2 Cards/+1 Action.

I guess you can instead compare +1 Card/+1 Action to +$2, for a more fair comparison, but even then, on Turns 1-2, you'll probably want Woodcutter over Great Hall.

I think you mean you'll probably want an Herbalist over a Great Hall, but that's a small nitpick.

The way I see it, neither Moneylender nor Spice Merchant is a trash-for-benefit card. They are cards that allow you to remove Coppers from your deck without completely killing your turn the way Chapel or Steward would.

I can easily accept that, in isolation, Moneylender beats Spice Merchant hands down. Until you've got enough treasure density in your deck to make the two cards you would draw worth at least $3, Moneylender is the better play. Furthermore, Moneylender will help you get that treasure density much faster.

However, on a board where there are powerful terminal actions (e.g. terminal Attack cards), the Spice Merchant has more of an edge. For one thing, your Spice Merchant is never going to collide with other terminal actions in your hand. Secondly, the Spice Merchant helps you cycle to those actions significantly faster than Moneylender.

Let's say that we run a simulation with three Kingdom cards: Moneylender, Spice Merchant, and Militia. I hypothesize that if you open Moneylender/Silver and I open Militia/Silver, after which you buy X Militias and I buy a Spice Merchant followed by X Militias (giving my deck a total of X + 1 Militias), that I will win over 50% of games.

7191

Dominion Articles / Re: Three-sentence overview of each card in Hinterlands

« on: November 10, 2011, 11:39:45 am »

Well, if you look at their abilities, Moneylender is +$3 and Spice Merchant is Lab or Woodcutter.  Clearly +$3 is far superior to a Lab or a Woodcutter, and Spice Merchant's main benefit is the flexibility.

OTOH, if you wait a reshuffle to buy Spice Merchant, you should be at $5 anyway, to buy your Laboratories.

I'm really confused about the point(s) you're trying to make here. For one thing, as AJD pointed out, Moneylender really gives you +$2, not +$3. Spice Merchant gives you either +$1/+1 Buy or +1 Card/+1 Action. As for your claim that "clearly +$3 is far superior to a Lab", that's patently false if the Lab draws you, say, a Mountebank.

Also, could you please elaborate on your 'being at $5 to buy your Laboratories' point? I don't think I understand what you meant by that.

7192

Dominion Articles / Re: Three-sentence overview of each card in Hinterlands

« on: November 08, 2011, 08:51:17 pm »

I agree with most of your analyses, but I have issues with two cards. I have only played solitaire games with these cards thus far, so please feel free to let me know if I'm way off base.

Spice Merchant
$4 Action
You may trash a Treasure from your hand. If you do, choose one:
+2 Cards and +1 Action, or +$2 and +1 Buy

Moneylender is a solid opener, and this is like Moneylender, but slightly worse (though the +Buy can come in handy).  You aren't guaranteed enough money, and it’s easier to accidentally trash everything and play yourself into a corner.  Dies off eventually, and so benefits from trash-for-benefit cards.

It seems as if you're completely ignoring Spice Merchant's (+2 Cards/+1 Action), which I believe is the option you'll want to use the majority of the time you play Spice Merchant.

Moneylender lets you trash Copper while providing enough coins to allow you buy more powerful cards for your deck. Spice Merchant lets you trash Copper while allowing you to draw and play more powerful cards that are already in your deck. So if there's a $3-cost card available that you want to play as often as possible (say Swindler or Ambassador), you might prefer to open with Spice Merchant rather than Moneylender.

That being said, I'm wondering if Spice Merchant isn't a better card to pick up soon after your first reshuffle, rather than on one of your first two turns. Unlike Moneylender, Spice Merchant does not jump-start your economy, so buying it immediately may slow you down. If you buy better coin-producing cards on the first two turns, then buy a Spice Merchant on turn 3 or 4, you'll most likely be shuffling it into your deck along with a powerful $5 or $6 cost card. Then you can play Spice Merchant to trash Copper while cycling to your good stuff.

As for the (+2 Coins/+1 Buy) option, I'd probably only opt for it in specific, less common situations. First: I really need the +Buy. Second: the +2 coins are guaranteed to get me to a price point I really need, whereas the two cards I draw are not. Third: there are fewer than 2 cards in my deck and the +2 coins are enough to buy a card that my deck needs before I reshuffle.

Stables
$5 Action
You may discard a Treasure. If you do, +3 Cards and +1 Action.

Pretty awesome non-terminal drawer, probably equal to Hunting Party / Lab.  Less reliable, though, and does very poorly when your Coppers are trashed.  Does nicely with fuel from cards like Ill-Gotten Gains, Cache, and Trader.

Saying that it does nicely with fuel from those cards seems akin to buying more Copper to feed your Moneylender. Your deck starts with 7 Coppers. Stables are an alternative to aggressively trashing your Copper, much like Apothecary.

7193

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Cache

« on: November 07, 2011, 12:45:46 pm »

I like cache in a thin deck that started out with two early spice traders. Cache helps feed those spice traders later in the game while providing some cash. This is what I use cache for most often.

Feeding spice traders is a losing proposition. Copper + Spice trader, using the lab effect, is exactly the same as not having those two cards at all! Using the woodcutter effect is making the spice trader into a terminal copper (and okay, a buy, but still.)

Although buying Copper simply to 'feed' a Moneylender or Spice Merchant is a bad idea, the fact that you have one in your deck should make you more willing to buy Cache if you have exactly $5 to spend. So while gaining the Copper doesn't 'help' your Spice Merchant, the Spice Merchant makes you more able to deal with having the Copper. There does seem to be some synergy between Spice Merchant and Cache.

Also, it's Spice MERCHANT, not 'Spice Traders'.

7194

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Is border village a trap?

« on: November 04, 2011, 12:36:16 pm »

No, homonyms are a subset of homophones, not the other way around.

7195

Dominion General Discussion / Re: What's your strategy with this set?

« on: November 03, 2011, 04:07:10 pm »

Maybe pick up a Haggler early as well, I dunno;

MAYBE pick up a Haggler? I'm pretty sure I'd like a free Conspirator when I buy a Bazaar.

7196

Dominion General Discussion / Re: The Secret History of the Hinterlands Cards [discussion]

« on: November 03, 2011, 01:21:58 am »

If Ill-Gotten Gains were a Treasure-Attack, it would actually be weaker. Every time you played it for coins, your opponents could reveal Secret Chamber or Horse Traders for benefit.

7197

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Cards That Combo With Tunnel Reaction

« on: November 02, 2011, 04:05:22 pm »

It seems to me that Hinterlands has a large number of cards that you don't want to open with, but can be useful after your first or second shuffle. Tunnel is one example. If you buy it right away, it's going to hurt your economy too much.

I'd think twice before opening with Develop, Scheme, Tunnel, Noble Brigand, Spice Merchant, Cartographer, Embassy, Haggler, Highway, Inn, or Mandarin. I wouldn't buy Duchess, period.

7198

Dominion General Discussion / Re: [spoiler] Full Hinterlands card list

« on: November 01, 2011, 07:41:03 pm »

I suppose the moral of the story is that Trader is usually a poor buy unless you're planning on making use of its reaction ability. However, I'd say that's true of Reaction cards in general, perhaps even all cards. If you're paying full price for a card, but only using part of its utility, you're probably better off buying something else.

7199

Dominion General Discussion / Re: How often would you like to use Colonies?

« on: October 31, 2011, 11:20:26 pm »

I prefer to use the suggestion in the Prosperity rulebook and have a chance to use Platinum and Colonies with a frequency proportional to the number of Prosperity kingdom cards in the set. That suggestion is there for a reason.

For one thing, most of the Prosperity cards are more effective in a Colony game than in a normal Province game. By using a flat rate for Colony games and disassociating them from the Prosperity cards, you're making many of the Prosperity cards less useful a lot of the time.

More importantly, there are a lot of cards that perform particularly poorly in a Colony game. The cards that produce Silver are a good example. If you always (or usually) play with Colonies, that's a whole bunch of cards that you'll never have an occasion to use.

I use a randomizer that randomly picks two expansions and then selects 5 cards from each. That way I actually have a decent selection of Prosperity cards for my Colony/Platinum games.

7200

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Mandarin

« on: October 28, 2011, 05:31:42 pm »

I have yet to play with the Hinterlands cards (I promised my wife), but it seems to me that Mandarin's ability to put any card back on your deck could be useful in carrying a Reaction card across many consecutive hands.

For instance, if you were to open 2/5, you could buy Moat/Mandarin. If they appear in the same hand, play the Mandarin and put the Moat in your next hand. If Moat appears alone, play it. In an attack-heavy game, Moat's protection is more useful than its +2 Cards. However, this plan does have the disadvantage of not giving access to use Moat's Reaction ability until at least turn 4.

This would be more useful in a 3- or 4-player game where Reactions are more practical, of course. It could also work with Secret Chamber/Watchtower/Horse Traders/Trader/Tunnel. It could be nice occasionally with Fool's Gold, but probably not worth shooting for intentionally.

I'm not sure it's a viable strategy in reality, but it sounds good initially on paper.